An agreement has been reached with the French government over the UK border, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said, after it was closed amid concern over the new coronavirus variant.
He promised more details on hauliers later, but urged them not to go to Kent where about 2,850 lorries are stranded.
Meanwhile, French authorities said some journeys would resume on Wednesday.
Residents and nationals will be among those allowed to return if they have a recent negative test.
Mr Shapps tweeted: "Good progress today and agreement with the French Government on borders. We will provide an update on hauliers later this evening, but hauliers must still NOT travel to Kent this evening."
French authorities said planes, boats and Eurostar trains would resume services on Wednesday morning.
This is available to French nationals, EU citizens and people with residency in France.
Travel will also be available to people carrying out essential trips, including health staff fighting against Covid-19, those who provide international transport of goods, fishing crew and bus or train drivers.
But in order to travel, they will need to have received a negative PCR test result less than 72 hours before departure.
"French nationals, people living in France and those with a legitimate reason will have to be carrying a negative test," French transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebarri said.
The PCR (polymerase chain reaction) Covid test is regarded as the "gold standard" by epidemiologists, but takes up to a day or longer to produce a result because the sample has to be sent off to a laboratory.
The BBC understands that hauliers will be able to provide a negative result from the faster type of test, known as a lateral flow test, before travelling to France.
The announcement by French authorities comes after the EU Commission urged member states to drop their travel bans to avoid supply chain disruption.
More than 50 countries have banned UK arrivals following widespread concern about the spread of the new variant.
No lorries have been leaving the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel to France.
Kent County Council leader Roger Gough told the BBC on Tuesday afternoon that 2,220 vehicles were at the temporary lorry park at Manston, while 632 were still being held on the M20.
It comes as Tesco said it would be reintroducing temporary purchasing limits on some essential products, including toilet rolls, eggs, rice and hand wash.
The supermarket said the move was a "pre-emptive measure" to "smooth demand" - rather than in response to a change in buyer behaviour - and that its stock levels were good.
The British Retail Consortium warned that trucks needed to be able to start travelling again in the next 24 hours to "avoid seeing problems on our shelves".
Andrew Opie, its director of food and sustainability, told the Commons business, energy and industrial strategy committee: "What we've been told by members is that unless those trucks can start travelling again and go back to Spain and Portugal and other parts of Europe, we will have problems with fresh produce from 27 December."
The Channel is a vital trade route, with about 10,000 lorries a day travelling between Dover and Calais at Christmas, largely bringing in the freshest produce.
A further 36,804 people in the UK have tested positive for coronavirus and there were 691 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, according to Tuesday's government figures.
It is the largest daily number of cases recorded yet, though it is thought the infection rate was higher during the first peak in spring when testing was much more limited.
Meanwhile, truck drivers stranded in Kent have called for immediate help from the government, with hundreds facing a third night sleeping in their cabs.
Truck driver Laszlo Baliga, 51, from London, spent Tuesday delivering food and water to those lined up at Manston Airport, a disused airfield.
He began taking supplies after Hungarian drivers stranded in the lorry park posted on Facebook asking for help, with one telling him the only toilet on the site had been blocked.
He said he and friends had so far spent more than £500 on food and water for drivers at the site.
Mr Baliga said: "We have got ready-to-eat sausages, bread, tomatoes, lettuce, coffee. Basic foods for now for the drivers.
"We like to help because this is a difficult time."
Ronald Schroeder, 52, from Hamburg in Germany, said: "I am now staying in a hotel, but in front of the hotel there are thousands of people without any rooms waiting to come over the Channel crossing.
"I feel a little bit like Robinson Crusoe on an island."
The government defended the facilities for stranded drivers, saying there were "more than adequate health and welfare provisions available".
In other developments:
- The company behind the Covid-19 vaccine being given to people in the UK says it is "highly likely" it will protect people against the new variant of the virus
- Northern Ireland's Executive votes against introducing a travel ban between Northern Ireland and England, Scotland and Wales
- Royal Mail said it had temporarily suspended all mail services to Europe, with the exception of the Republic of Ireland, due to travel restrictions
- The number of excess deaths in the UK since the start of the pandemic has passed 81,000
- Army soldiers have been drafted in to drive ambulances in Wales
- SOCIAL DISTANCING: Can I give my friends a hug?
- FACE MASKS: When do I need to wear one?
- TESTING: How do I get a virus test?
- SYMPTOMS: What are they and how to guard against them?
- A PROMISED LAND: Barack Obama reads from his new and compelling presidential memoir
- GROUNDED WITH LOUIS THEROUX: Rylan Clark-Neal reveals how one of Louis’s documentaries ignited his teenage sexuality
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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiJmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3VrLTU1NDE4NTY10gEqaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmJjLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvYW1wL3VrLTU1NDE4NTY1?oc=5
2020-12-22 19:57:00Z
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